Why Covid-19 will become Big Oil’s 'asteroid strike'

While the pandemic will hopefully subside, the pre-existing threat from the shift away from carbon-based fuels won’t

OPEC’s says the world’s consumption of liquid fuels will reach a plateau around 2040. Picture: Angus Mordant/Bloomberg

Covid-19 may do for Big Oil what the Chicxulub asteroid did for the dinosaurs when it struck Earth 66 million years ago.

Much like the “terrible lizards,” Big Oil was already in decline before the novel coronavirus hit. The world in which they thrived is changing around them and they face multiple threats to their future health. But the outbreak’s impact has accelerated the process.